Trolley-catcher.



No. 727,649. BATENTED MAY 12, 1903.

"E. LIMAUGE.

TROLLEY OATGHER..

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 3, 1902. 30 MODEL. 4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

wa' i-N szssie. I ng vgawfoR m: NORRIS PETERS cc. PHDlO-LITHO. wnsummou, u. c.

No. 721,649; PATBNTED MAY 12, 1903. I

I E. LIMAUGB.

TROLLEY GATGHER.

APPLICATION rrnnn no. a, 1002. 11 0 monnn.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A-r-ro Rm-iYs 'mz NORRIS PETERS cu. FHOTO-LITHQ. WASHINGTON. n. c.

No. 727,649. a PATENTED MAY 12, 1903. I

E. LIMAUGE.

TROLLEY GATGHER. I APPLICATION FILED D30. 3, 1902.

4 SHEEN-SHEET a.

. A'r'i'oR ms THE NORRIS PETERS ca. PHOTO-LITHQ, WASHINGTON D, Q

No.727,649. PATENTED MAY 1.2, 1.903."

' ELIMAUGE.

TROLLBY GATGHER.

urmommn FILED no. a, 1902.

no MODEL. 4 sums-slum: 4.

lwv l T oR Y N S :5 I :71 f f 1 V ATTORNEYS)" NITAEAD STATES Patented May 12, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

EUGENE LIMAUGE, OF BRUSSELS, BELGIUM.

TROLLEY-CATCHER.

SPECIFICATION forming. part of Letters Patent No. 727,649, dated May 12, 1903. Application filed Decemher 3,:1902. Serial No- 133 .746. (N0 model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EUGENE LIMAUcrr-a subject of the King of Belgium, and a resident of Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium,

have invented certain new and useful Irnprovements in Trolley-Catchersfof which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to a novel construction of trolley apparatus for electric railways with overhead conduct0rs,'so that when the trolley accidentally leaves the con ductor-cable it will not cause injury and damage by violently striking against parts with which it may come in contact, but will be maintained, on the contrary, in a lowered position beneath the cable in such a manner that it will not strike any obstructions and will freely pass below the cable. This result is obtained by a device preferably in the form of a counterweight, a spring, or analogous element, which acts at a desired moment upon the trolley, so as to maintain the same in a position lower than the line or cable. As this counterweight or spring cannot or should not act constantly upon the trolley-control cord, which should have a slack part in order to enable the spring action, as the trolley-rod, to strongly press the trolley against the conductor to make an eflicient contact, it should act upon this cord, generally attached to the free endof the trolley, only at the moment when the trolley jumps and leaves the con ductor. These conditions are easily realized by the arrangement and theconstruction rep-.

resented in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 shows a side view of part of a car provided with my improved apparatus. Fig. 2 is a view of the counterweight supporting and releasing device. Fig. 3 is an elevation, and Fig. 4 is a side sectional view, of the device for releasing the catch on operating the single cord, the catch being disengaged and the counterweight lowered,while Fig. 5 shows a vertical section of the disengaging device in engagement with the counterweight, which it maintains in its raised position. Fig. 6 is a plan view of the device.

At the end a of the carriage is arranged a cylindrical or other chamber or casing b.' In the top of the cylinder 1) is suspended on a catch-lever c of any convenient constructrolley leaves the conductor 41 and moves up under the action of its spring, it draws up the rope gand with it the branch cord f, which raises the long arm cot the catch-lever and disengages its other arm a for the counterweight, so that the weight (1 falls and in its turn through the cord h draws down the rope-g, overcoming the action of the trolleyrod spring,and thus causes the trolley to be maintained below thesupply-conductor, and thus prevents damage, as hereinbefore explained.

Although any suitable construction of disengagingand counteracting device overcoming the action ofthe trolley-rod spring after the disengagement of. the counterweight by the action of the disengaging device comes within the scope of my invention, wherein they can act with more or less perfection, ac-

cording to'their more or less appropriate and perfect construction l will describe a type of disengaging device which can be preferably employed. In this apparatus the branch cord f is not used and all the operations are accomplished by a single cord, which instead of being attached invariably to the balancingcounterweight d has'a certain play, which corresponds to the functionlof the cord f, which thuscan .be suppressed. In this example the disengaging device consists of two horizontal jaws or slides 0, maintained opposite to one another in corresponding guides jj, fixed to the casing bin such manner that they can at will be brought together or separated by means of two lovers q, connected by a pivot carrying a counterweight p, which at its upper part is provided with a projection r. The adjacent ends of the two jaws 0 are in the form of semicircular forks adapted to engage with one another beneath the head of a rod 3, secured to the counterweight (Z. In this hollow rod .9, which is provided with a vertical slot, is arranged a suspension-rod it, provided atits lower end with an offset 0 and attached at its upper part to the cord g, attached to the trolley, so that this cord can have a certain amount of play dependent upon the length of the slot 3. Under these conditions the disengaging device of the above construction operates as follows: On raising the counterweight d by drawing up the cord 9 the offset U comes beneath the head if, and when it comes opposite to the projection 'r of the weight 1) it raises the latter and with it the levers q g, which spread apart the jaws 0, between which the head 23 can then pass to enter the space formed for it above. The rod to is then turned by hand in such manner as to cause a finger a at its end to support the counterweight d, whereupon the cord g can be released, which will then descend with the hook 'v, pressed down by the counterweight 19, which also descends in corresponding manner, carrying with it the pivot 11 of the levers q g, which thereupon draw the jaws 0 together around the rod .9 beneath the head 25. On then removing the finger z the counterweight becomes supported by the jaws 0 of the disengaging device, which in this way maintain itsuspended; but,on the other hand, as soon as the trolley slips off the conductor and flies upward under the action of the spring it draws on the slack part of the cord g and causes the offset u to strike the projection 0' and raise the controlling-counterweight p, and with it the pivot 1;, thereby opening the jaws 0, thus releasing the counterweight d, which falls to the bottom of the casing?) and draws down the trolley beneath the line conductor.

I claim- 1. In a device of the class described, a connterweight having a stem or projection, a pair of jaws adapted to grip the same to hold it elevated, a releasing-weight movably supported and having connections to the jaws for opening them when the counterweight is elevated and a member movably connected with the counterweight and adapted to operate the releasing-weight, said movable member being connected to the trolley-cord, substantially as described.

2. In a device of the class described, a disengaging device comprising two horizontal jaws, brackets attached to the top of the casing supporting said jaws, toggle-levers pivoted to the jaws, a releasing-weight adapted to operate said levers and a projection on said releasing-weight adapted to be engaged bya projection at the end of the trolley-cord when the latter is drawn up and a main counterweight connected to the trolley-cord and adapted to be gripped by the horizontal jaws, substantially as described.

In witness whereofI have hereunto set my hand in presence of two witnesses.

EUGENE LIMAUGE.

Witnesses:

C. DEBEAU, GREGORY PHELAN. 

